rather silently throughout and, after a rattle of subdued clapping, went quietly. T HE perennial fascination of Mme. Tussaud's exhibition in Baker Street, just around the corner from Sherlock Holmes's, never wanes, to judge by the queues that daily straggle toward its doors. In its way, in spite of its fun-fair atmosphere, the place is as distinctive a collection as the National Portrait Gallery, being a wonderfully extensive record of the features of so many of the great or celebrated, from the time of the French Revolution on- ward, modelled nearly all from life ( or, some of the early ones, gruesomely from victims of the guillotine) by the émigree Mme. Tussaud and, later) by her descendants. It is still a family af- fair; there are Tussauds on the board today. The crowds come along for the fun of gazing at the phizzes of the fa- mous and seeIng what they truly looked like, and also to gaze affectionately at their old set-piece favorites-the Little PI inces in the Tower, and the Gun- powder Plot, and the celebrated Sleep- ing Beauty (a portrait of the lovely, luckless me. St. Amaranthe, con- delnned to death by the Revolutionary tribunal at twenty-two), whose shapely motorized bosom still dependably heaves up and down beneath her veils as it did in one's childhood. The other day, Tussaud's put on a new experi- ment, which involves the spectator inti- 111atelv in a historical experience instead of peeping at it across a red cord. This is a splendid reconstruction of the Bat- tle of Trafalgar, designed by Timothy O'BrIen) whose haunting evocation of . the sights and sounds and smells of Elizabethan England was one of the memorable high spots of the brilliant Shakespeare exhibition at Stratford a couple of years ago. For Trafalgar he has llsed much the same technique-a mixture of theatre and son et lumière. Entering through a small door, the "isitor plunges into the truly claustro- phobic gloom and turmoil of the lower decks of the Victory. Figures of sweat- ing gun crews are dimly seen laboring in darkness, broken by blinding flashes of light (one of the Victory's guns was recorded for the sound track) and a pandemonium of groans, curses, shout- ed orders, beating drums, and a sul- phurous smell of smoke. The facts ahout the battle, set forth on the walls of the staircase between decks, tell the visitor who has wits enough left to read that, not surprisingly, some of the sur- viving gunners were deaf for life. After this, the more classic Tussaud group of the dying Nelson's small, fraIl body propped up in the candlelit cockpit among his officers is a slight anticlimax. In the regular exhibition, this visitor noted, the changes of history are care- fully recorded. l\1.r. Wilson, looking pink and spruce, sits surrounded by his Cabinet, reseated according to the last shuffle. In the Commonwealth section, Mrs. GandhI has not yet replaced an ex- cellent Mr. Shastri, but an exhibition at- tendant said that she was expected short- ly. In a tactful compromise, the figure of Mr. Ian Smith, of Rhodesia, has been placed in the background of the group of Commonwealth Prime Ministers and peers around the corner of a large screen. -MOLLIE P ANTER- DOWNES . POEM ABOUT MOR.NING ,^ hether it's sunny or not, It'S sure To be enormously complex: Trees or streets outdoors, indoors whoever you share, i\.nd yourself, thirsty, hungry, washing, .An attitude toward sex. No wonder half of you wants to stay With your head dark and wishing Rather than take it all on again- Weren't you duped vesterday? ]'hings are not orderly here, no matter what they say. But the clock goes off, if you have a dog, It wags, if you get up now, you'll be less Late. Life is some kind of loathsome hag Who IS forever threatening to turn beautIful. Now she gives you a quick toothpaste kiss And puts a glass of cold cranberry juice, Like a big fake garnet, in your hand. Cranberry juice ! You're lucky, on the whole, But there 1S a great deal about it you don't understand. -WILLIAM MEREDITH 213 Sun with the "Day People" " -: -Ø . .. ,.. ..::'. ì ..' , I' --fA#<' P<' '<S- ..; u: t P '> q'" " J ..}.J . 1W '..' .: . ' '>'..' Æ.. ". , .. '5' v", ."" 't " .':__* : fli '" .' :. .' . ,,: . þ: , : . ': ':;:' .. ". . "-C-" . "... ,,/ - 1 >,: ::' f --:: "':" ,:.: . ,:. '...'. .,, '....,.:.:.. . . ^ . . ." .". / ......:. ." ---..1< ". " -:- 'Ie., << "'-- ':': ''''',:.., :"'\. >..,. Swing with the 'Night People" 'v .......<: . "'" . . ,, < :% ',.<-, l .1. ( ,.:-.... :: ::. . :-:;.- '> ..x:,:. '.:.' "." :...... . ß ..' .,, '" , . ':'d J .; ' ." .: .. ... (" . . ,, : . , : : , , :'V,;;. ;j. ;:; ", .., / K ; , ', . .: --: !'::' " .-......-..)0. : . , " .$^ , . ""1$ -'j> . "'&.,;, ; *' If . '.. "" i'" ,,: .': "."4' :N . ::. ".; ".. : . ,}"}." ; ! )::.. _J .;>.. \t \ .'V 1:.......:- . Come with the "Fun People" to the Puerto Rico Sheraton from $13 50 * a day There are two great times to vacation here. Daytime, when you can tan to a turn on a soft sweep of golden beach or our palm- planted pools ide terrace Nighttime, when you'll dance to a Latin beat and watch top entertainment In our nightclub. Swing in the Zanzibar Lounge. Dine with a panoramic view from our rooftop restaurant. Go swim- ming, snorkeling. Play golf, tennis. Enjoy the comfort of your air-conditioned room or suite with your own private balcony. *Rates from $13.50 a day per person, two in a room, Dec. I5-Apr. 30. For Insured Reservations at Guaranteed Rates, caB a travel agent, any Shera- ton Hotel or Reservation Offices: In New Yotk- CH 4-0700, Chicago- SU 7-4585. Los Angeles -DU 2-8408. puerto nco T SAk 130 SHERATON HOTELS & MOTOR INNS IN MAJOR CITIES